The latest short interest data as of October 15 showed that DowDuPont’s (DWDP) short interest rose on a sequential basis. According to the data, DowDuPont’s short interest as a percentage of outstanding shares was 0.88%. The short interest increased from 0.74% on September 28. During the same period, DowDuPont stock declined from $64.31 to $58.94.

In the week ending October 19, natural gas prices trended lower after experiencing a spike in the week ending October 12 at Henry Hub in the United States (MXI). According to the EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration), most natural gas prices in locations other than Henry Hub rose.

We looked at DAP (diammonium phosphate) prices in the previous part of this series. MAP (monoammonium phosphate) prices also struggled to find positive direction last week, which ended October 12, at Brazil and NOLA (New Orleans). The pause in Brazil may be temporary since the region remains strong in agribusiness for companies (MXI) such as Mosaic (MOS), Nutrien (NTR), and CF Industries (CF).

Earlier in this series, we looked at how higher energy costs led to an increase in nitrogen fertilizer prices. In Europe, the cost of natural gas rose by 53% year-over-year as of June 2018, according to CF Industries (CF). China, which uses coal to produce nitrogen fertilizer, saw a 32% increase in prices year-over-year as of May 2018. In its second-quarter press release, CF Industries stated that natural gas prices in Europe may continue to increase in 2019.

Praxair’s (PX) Asian segment was its second-biggest revenue contributor in Q2 2018. Its share of the company’s overall revenue expanded by 1.5 percentage points YoY (year-over-year) to ~16.4% from 14.9%. PX’s Asian revenue grew 19.0% YoY in the second quarter, to $502 million from $422 million.

MAP (monoammonium phosphate) prices continued to inch higher last week and hit new highs. Prices have continued to rise, indicating a favorable supply-demand environment for MAP fertilizers in the Brazil and NOLA (New Orleans) regions.

Between July 11 and July 18, natural gas spot prices at Henry Hub fell about 4.2% to $2.72 per MMBtu (million British thermal units). According to the EIA (Energy Information Administration), this decline in prices resulted from higher production or supply of natural gas.

Last week, which ended July 13, DAP (diammonium phosphate) prices continued to rise at most of the locations in the chart below. Rising DAP prices boost expectations for favorable earnings outcome for companies (MXI) such as Mosaic (MOS), Nutrien (NTR), and Israel Chemicals (ICL). Let’s look at DAP prices by location.

DAP (diammonium phosphate) fertilizer prices in four of seven locations around the world rose last week, continuing an upward momentum. Prices at the other three locations were unchanged. At each of the locations, the current prices were at their peak since the beginning of the year.

The first-quarter 13F filings indicate that institutional investors own 70.9% of DowDuPont’s (DWDP) outstanding shares. A total of 1,957 institutions hold DowDuPont. Among the institutions, 825 increased their positions on DowDuPont, 908 reduced their positions, and 224 maintained their positions. Although more institutions sold DowDuPont, more shares were bought by institutions than the number of shares sold.

Potash prices in the week ended April 20 were flat to positive at the locations we’ll cover below. Potash prices have remained strong so far in 2018, which is a relief for potash producers (MXI) Nutrien (NTR) (POT), Mosaic (MOS), and Intrepid Potash (IPI).